Warrior High
by iMelinda
Summary: Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf got lucky and survived their year at Apprentice Academy. But how long will they last at Warrior high? Sequel to Apprentice Academy!
1. First Day

**Chapter One**

A golden, tabby tom cat tossed and turned in his bed of moss. His paws churned in the air. Lionblaze was dreaming.

***

_Lionblaze was standing in an empty classroom. "Welcome, class!" was written on the blackboard. A clock ticked somewhere nearby._

Oh, no,_ he thought. _I'm back at school. How much longer until I'm out of here? _Lionblaze glanced at the clock. He gasped._

_The clock was ticking, but the second hand wasn't moving. It vibrated repeatedly, but stayed stubbornly at the twelve. The hour hand was on the nine, and the minute hand was on the twelve. Time was forever frozen and nine o'clock AM, the time that school started._

_"Aaaaaaaah!" Lionblaze cried, and the dream changed._

_He was sitting at his desk in his room. His bed of moss sat to one side. Lionblaze looked at it longingly, but he knew he had to get his homework done before he could sleep. The tom's pencil zipped across his paper._

_Suddenly a shadow loomed over the desk. "Jayfeather?" Lionblaze asked. His brother usually came into his Lionblaze's room during homework time for help. The golden tom turned and gasped._

_A mass of white sheets of paper loomed over him. At the top of each paper was Lionblaze's name, and over that a bright, red F-. Red X's dotted the sheets._

_The papers swirled and formed a black hole-like shape. A strong wind filled the room. Lionblaze's pencil cup tipped over and ten sharp pieces of wood shot straight at the tom. He ducked, and they were sucked into the "paper-hole". Then Lionblaze began to feel the pull of the hole. He dug his claws into the desk, but he was slipping. The golden tom lost his grip, and Lionblaze went plummeting into the hole._

_The dream changed again._

_Lionblaze was sitting at a different desk. He was in a long row of desks in a classroom that seemed to go on indefinitely. In front of him was a paper: a math exam. Lionblaze grinned. Aside from P.E., math was his best subject. He had averaged a B- in it during his year at Apprentice Academy._

_He picked up his pencil mechanically and started writing. Each problem was easy! _I can't believe this,_ Lionblaze thought. _Everything is so simple!

_Then a foul scent hit his nose._ Fox!_ The reddish-brown creature stalked up to Lionblaze's desk. It opened its mouth. Lionblaze flinched back, preparing to feel the creature's awful bite._

_Then it began to speak in the language of cats: "Sorry, Lionblaze, I gave you the wrong test. That one is for the preschoolers." It took the sheet of paper and replaced it with a longer one with more print on it._

_Lionblaze's jaw dropped open. What was with all of the x's and y's? All of the little numbers suspended over the big numbers? The letters and numbers on both sides of the equals sign?_

_"Uh, Mr. Fox?" he called. "I think I'm in the wrong class."_

_The fox turned. "Oh?"_

_Lionblaze nodded vigorously._

_"Do you know what I do to students that aren't in my class?" it asked, stalking towards the golden tom._

_"Let them run free?" Lionblaze swallowed nervously._

_"No! I _eat_ them!" The fox lunged for him._

_"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"_

***

"Ahh!" Lionblaze woke up with a jolt. He screeched again, as he was staring into a pair of bright, blue, sightless eyes.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead!" Jayfeather meowed. The eyes vanished from sigh, replaced by a pair of bright green ones.

"Come on, Lionblaze!" Hollyleaf mewed cheerfully. "School starts today!"

Lionblaze groaned and rolled over. "I'm sick. Tell Squirrelflight I can't go to school today."

Jayfeather froze. He sniffed the air. Was Lionblaze's moss dirty? "Really?" he asked. "It's only early leaffall, a bit soon for the annual outbreak of greencough. Do you think you have a light cold?"

"Of course not!" Hollyleaf cried exasperatedly. "He's fine! He's just trying to get out of going to school."

A plan began forming in Jayfeather's mind. He turned to Hollyleaf. "Let's go downstairs and get some breakfast. We'll just leave Lionblaze here."

His sister looked at him quizzically. "Wait," Jayfeather whispered quietly.

He mewed more loudly, "It's a shame Lionblaze isn't going to school today. I heard HEATHERTAIL is going to be there today." He raised his voice at the name of Lionblaze's crush.

The golden tom was out of bed in an instant. "Hey!" he cried, realizing at last that his siblings had tricked him.

"Relax, Lionblaze," Hollyleaf mewed, flicking him with her tail. "It's about time you got up. We'd been listening to your yowling for ages!"

"Heathertail _will_ be at school, you know," Jayfeather pointed out. "You haven't seen her all summer."

"Yikes!" Lionblaze yowled. "What if she's been seeing someone else?"

Hollyleaf rolled her eyes and stalked out of the room. "Boys," she could be heard muttering.

The golden tom turned to his brother. "She hasn't, has she?"

Jayfeather shrugged. "I've seen her about as much as you have, Lionblaze. But I'll tell you if I dream anything."

"Thanks," Lionblaze mewed honestly. "She's really important to me, you know."

"I know." Jayfeather rolled his eyes, and together the two toms went down to breakfast.

***

Within an hour, the three warriors were sitting in a large, mainly-white room on a hard tile floor with the rest of Warrior High's freshman class. It was the start-of-the-school-year assembly.

To Hollyleaf's dismay, _One_star stood at the front of the room wearing the principals' uniform. "As Firestar is still teaching at Apprentice Academy," he was meowing, "I will be principal here at your new school. My vice principal is Ashfoot; you can go to her if you have any disciplinary problems, but I will warn you, punishments are not administrated lightly. If you got detention, it's because you deserved it. Firestar has been _far_ too soft on you at that old school. At Warrior High, our motto is _work hard!_ Slacking off will not be tolerated. Anyone with an average of a C or lower will be _kicked out_."

A grim silence fell over the auditorium at these last words.

"Have a nice year," Onestar said, smirking. He bounded off of the stage as the bell rang, signaling the start of their homeroom period.

Hollypaw lagged behind until her Willowshine caught up with her. The light grey RiverClan tabby had been her friend since the end of the last school year, when Minnowtail had revealed that she was _not_ as great a cat as Hollyleaf had thought her to be. The other RiverClan apprentice had wanted to pull a prank on Graystripe, their former biology teacher. Hollyleaf and Willowshine were the only ones who hadn't planned to participate, but a raging fire had distracted everyone from taunting their teacher.

"Who do you have for homeroom?" Willowshine asked.

"Homeroom?" Hollyleaf meowed, diving into her bag for her schedule.

"It's the class you have before your _real_ classes. I think the homeroom teachers take attendance or something like that."

"Oh," Hollyleaf mewed with a sigh. It seemed like her first year at Warrior high would be starting out like her year at Apprentice Academy: her friends knew more about the school than she did.

"Mothwing told me," meowed Willowshine, which made Hollyleaf feel slightly better. "So who do you have?"

"Um…" Hollyleaf scanned her schedule. "Sandstorm, I think."

"Really? Me too!" Willowshine exclaimed. "Isn't she Firestar's mate?"

Hollyleaf nodded. "It's weird that she's not teaching at his school."

Willowshine shrugged. "Maybe all of the spots were full by the time she applied."

"Maybe," Hollyleaf agreed. "Come on!" she mewed excitedly. "Let's go see what she's like!"

***

"My name is Sandstorm," Sandstorm mewed, introducing herself, "and I will be your homeroom teacher for this year."

A warrior behind Hollyleaf must have raised their tail, because Sandstorm called on someone. The ThunderClan warrior was disappointed to hear Minnowtail's voice.

"Is this all you teach?" Minnowtail asked. "What do you do all day?"

"My main subject is physics," Sandstorm explained. "I teach it here in this classroom. I suspect some of you will have my class during your sophomore and junior years at Warrior High."

Willowshine flicked a note to Hollyleaf. _Must be a hard class,_ she wrote, _if only the older warriors can take it._

**Makes me a little scared**,Hollyleaf wrote back.

_Yep. What do you have after this?_

** Geometry, just like last year. You?**

_Mouse dung! I have history._

**Oh, well. Maybe we can compare schedules at lunch?**

_If we don't see each other before then._

**Let's hope we do!**

Suddenly Sandstorm loomed over Hollyleaf. "I called your name three times, Hollyleaf. Are you present or not?"

"Uh, present, I guess," Hollyleaf mewed, not really knowing what it meant.

"Good. So I will see you and your friend Willowshine in my classroom at lunchtime for a lesson on attendance-taking?"

"Yes ma'am," Hollyleaf mewed, ducking her head.

She'd received her first punishment. Her first year at Warrior High had officially started.

***

**A/N: For all of you Apprentice Academy fans, I present Warrior High! I couldn't resist delving back into the world of our favorite ThunderClan warriors. Please excuse any mistakes I'll make in the first chapters like "the apprentices", etc. I'm still getting used to the fact that they're warriors.**

**I'll try to make it longer than the last one, but I'll make no promises. I'll also promise nothing about updating quickly, because school has started and I'm easing into the whole notion of homework again.**

**Anyways, I hope all of my great Apprentice Academy reviewers will like this one as much as they like the other one!**


	2. Hollyleaf the Cheater

**Chapter Two**

Hollyleaf hurried through the school hallways, racing to get to her next class. Her half-packed book bag was slung over one shoulder, a few loose papers spilling over the sides.

"Mouse dung, mouse dung, mouse dung," she muttered to herself over and over. "I'm _never_ going to get to class at this rate!"

"Need some help?" asked a voice behind her. Hollyleaf turned around to see Mousewhisker coming up behind her.

"It would be greatly appreciated," she meowed just as her bag flipped over and her books went tumbling down the hallway.

The gray warrior bent down next to her and scooped up some of Hollyleaf's books. His paw touched hers for a moment, and she felt her fur grow hot. _Am I getting sick?_

"What class do you have next?" Mousewhisker asked.

"Geometry," she replied with a grimace, remembering how Willowshine had history.

"Really?" Mousewhisker meowed, surprised. "Me too! We can walk to class together."

"Sure!" Hollyleaf brightened at the idea of having a friend in her class.

Geometry was more or less the same as the year before. Hollyleaf had just begun to understand it at the end of her year at Apprentice Academy, but, of course, school had gotten out and she had spent Greenleaf rotting her brain.

"Hollyleaf?" Mousefur called. "What is the volume formula for a sphere?"

The black she-cat wracked her brain. _Volume... volume… I know this!_

"Hollyleaf?" her teacher repeated.

"Uh…" Hollyleaf trailed off.

Mousewhisker flicked her a note as Mousefur turned away.

"Petalfur, do you know the answer?"

_**4/3 times pi times the radius cubed**_

Hollyleaf flashed the tom a grateful look and then spoke up. "Four thirds…" she began.

Mousefur snapped her head around and looked at the black she-cat.

"Times pi times the radius cubed?" Hollyleaf finished tentatively.

"That is correct," Mousefur mewed, surprised. "Now, if the radius is two mouse-lengths…" she went on. The lesson faded into the background.

Meanwhile, Hollyleaf's ears burned with embarrassment. She had cheated! And sure, it was just class, and not homework, but still! Wasn't it against the Warrior Code? Wasn't she dedicated to following the Warrior Code? Maybe she _was_ sick.

* * *

"Hollyleaf!" Willowshine cried as soon as Hollyleaf entered the cafeteria. Her friend waved Hollyleaf over with her tail. Honeyfern, Cinderheart, and Jayfeather were also sitting at her table.

"Where's Lionblaze?" Hollyleaf asked as she set her tray down. Her brother had almost always sat with them at Apprentice Academy.

Cinderheart looked down and Jayfeather glared at the ceiling. Honeyfern suddenly became interested in her berry salad. Only Willowshine responded to Hollyleaf's question.

"Look over there," she mewed, nodding her head in the direction of a table just past Honeyfern.

"Great StarClan…" Hollyleaf whispered, aghast.

Relationships between two cats of different Clans were forbidden. It was in the Warrior code. The code that Hollyleaf had lived by for all of her life. The code that she thought her brothers would live by as well.

But apparently Lionblaze thought he was exempt from the code. He sat next to Heathertail, their tails intertwined. They fed each other bites of their own lunches. Surrounding them were several other she-cats and many members of the Warrior High football team.

"A shame to ThunderClan," Honeyfern hissed through her teeth.

"Your brother is quite lucky," meowed a new voice. All five cats at the table turned to see Harespring, a WindClan tom two moons their senior.

"Ah, newbies," he sighed, as if remembering his days as a freshman. "You're not familiar with the hierarchy, are you?"

_Hierarchy?_ Hollyleaf wondered. They'd learned about it briefly in history at Apprentice Academy, but she wasn't sure how it applied to _school_.

"That's the popular cats table," Harespring went on, flicking his tail towards where Lionblaze sat.

_My brother is _popular_?_

"That's the drama club table." His tail gestured at a table across the café.

"There's a table for the computer club, math team, football team – thought most sit at the popular table – cheerleader team (ditto football), and, finally, the band geeks," he finished.

"_Excuse_ me?" Jayfeather snapped.

"What about the cats who don't belong to a club?" Hollyleaf asked, intrigued. Where were the other cats in her art class sitting?

"Oh, you mean the Nobodies." Harespring sighed again. "Too shy, too immature to join a club. _They_ sit over there." He nodded his head toward the corner of the cafeteria.

"I think it's stupid," Poppyfrost finally spoke up. "Why do we have to have assigned seats?"

"Onestar is a controlling mouse-brain," Cinderheart agreed.

"I don't think it's Onestar behind this," mewed Willowshine uncertainly. "I think it's organized by the students."

"How so?" Jayfeather asked.

"Well, everyone seems to think that the popular cats are great, and, apparently, us _band geeks_," – she hissed the word through her teeth – "aren't so great."

"Even the Nobodies?" Hollyleaf meowed, surprised. She thought it was strange that cats who were supposedly "lower" than her on the hierarchy chart would think less of her than the popular cats.

"I suppose no one knows," Jayfeather told them after a moment's pause. "Harespring seemed to definitely be one of the higher-ranked students, so I can't imagine _him_ hanging out with them."

"Lunch is almost over, but tomorrow let's make an effort to be friendly," Willowshine declared.

_But what if they don't want our pity?_ Hollyleaf wondered as they exited the cafeteria.

* * *

**A/N: Agh! Embarrassingly short chapter! I promise I'll never do that again, but I didn't think there was much to add after the end of the café scene. Please read and review! (Also, check out the poll on my profile – it might interest some fans desperate for romance!)**


	3. Dodgeball and the Anti Study Hall

**Chapter Three**

"StarClan help us," Willowshine murmured.

"Jayfeather, if I don't come out of this alive, you can have my room," Hollyleaf promised.

"Why WindClan?" Lionblaze whined. "Even _ShadowClan _would be better than them."

Honeyfern, Cinderheart, and Jayfeather nodded in agreement. So soon after the Great Battle was not a good time to fight WindClan.

"Why do medicine cats have to participate?" complained Jayfeather.

"Because you signed up for P.E., that's why," taunted a WindClan warrior. Jayfeather felt his blood turn cold. _Breezepelt_.

"That's enough chit-chat, ThunderClan!" coach Tornear chided.

"Remind me why you're here again?" Hollyleaf whispered to Willowshine.

"Special permission from Mothwing," her friend reminded her. "ShadowClan play harder than WindClan."

"Supposedly," Lionblaze put in.

"We're going to try something different today," Tornear announced. "We're going to pick teams. There will be one ThunderClan captain and one WindClan captain. You are not required to pick your own Clanmates."

Jayfeather saw Lionblaze's ears perk up. He was probably hoping he would be picked as captain so he could choose Heathertail to be on his team.

"Captains will be Jayfeather and Breezepelt."

The medicine cat heard groans ripple through the crowd. He suppressed a growl. No one would want the blind, helpless medicine cat on their team.

"WindClan picks first," the coach decided.

_Figures,_ Jayfeather thought. _He's playing favorites_.

"Heathertail," Breezepelt mewed. The pale brown she-cat bounded over to his side of the line, casting an _I'm sorry_ glance at Lionblaze.

Now it was Jayfeather's turn to choose. Most of the WindClan cats shrunk down on the ground, trying not to be seen. He rolled his eyes, and then chose Willowshine. She padded over to him happily.

Much to ThunderClan's surprise, Breezepelt picked Lionblaze next. The golden tom ran to the WindClan side of the line joyfully. Then Breezepelt stopped him and whispered something in his ear. Lionblaze froze, glancing first at Heathertail and then back at Jayfeather. Then he nodded.

"I'm not liking where this is going," Jayfeather murmured.

A few minutes later, the teams had been divided up. Jayfeather's team was all ThunderClan – aside from Willowshine - and Breezepelt's team was all WindClan but Lionblaze.

Several soft, squishy balls were placed on the dividing line between the two teams.

"Remember," Tornear told them, "each team has two medicine cats. You can only get back in if tagged by one of them. If a medicine cat is hit by the fox-fur ball," – he indicated a reddish brown ball in the center – "they lose their medicinal powers. No other balls affect them."

Both teams nodded. Jayfeather and Willowshine would be medicine cats for ThunderClan; Kestrelflight and Breezepelt were for WindClan.

"Let's play dodgeball!" Lionblaze roared. The warriors charged for the line of balls in the center of the gym.

* * *

Jayfeather was breathing heavily. ThunderClan was losing terribly. Only a few cats remained standing: Hollyleaf, Cinderheart, Willowshine, and himself. Breezepelt had hit Willowshine with the fox-fur ball only moments into the game, but WindClan still had both of their medicine cats.

He sheltered near the back wall of the gym, but even that wasn't much help. Jayfeather winced as Cinderheart sacrificed herself for him; Breezepelt had whipped the fox-fur ball across the gym but the gray she-cat had taken the hit instead. He inched forward and tapped her lightly on the shoulder, retreating quickly as the deadly ball rolled across the floor toward him.

Hollyleaf pushed past him to grab it; with all her strength she hurled it to the other side of the line and knocked Kestrelflight to the ground.

"Foul!" Tornear called. "Headshot! Hollyleaf, you're out."

Grimacing, the black she-cat sat upon the floor. "Jayfeather!" she called.

Jayfeather gritted his teeth. Tornear was obviously playing favorites, but there was nothing he could do about it. He tasted the air, making sure that Breezepelt was nowhere near him as he streaked across the gym to tag Hollyleaf back in.

"Jayfeather!" Willowshine warned. As he darted back he had picked up Breezepelt's scent, and was running to the left to avoid him. But the WindClan tom was smart; he had thrown the ball to where Jayfeather would have been in an instant if Willowshine hadn't warned him.

"Mouse dung!" he heard Breezepelt groan.

This time, when Hollyleaf threw the fox-fur ball across the gym, it hit Kestrelflight in the side, and it was so gentle a toss that even Tornear couldn't find something wrong with it. The WindClan medicine cat repeated Breezepelt's curse and slumped to the floor.

"Nice throw, Hollyleaf!" Honeyfern called. Jayfeather ran over to her, staying close to the wall as usual. He had forgotten momentarily about his other teammates; he ran around the gym, tagging Hazeltail and Cinderheart as well and ducked back just to miss being hit by the fox-fur ball again.

But his luck couldn't last. A ball collided with Jayfeather's tail. He spun around in terror, but realized that it was just one made of mouse pelts.

"Hah!" Willowshine taunted. Breezepelt gritted his teeth.

The WindClan tom picked up the fox-fur ball, but Jayfeather wasn't paying attention. He was edging towards Mousewhisker, ready to tag his teammate in.

Breezepelt raised his paw, preparing to throw.

"Jayfeather!" Hollyleaf warned. The blind medicine cat turned towards her voice and the fox-fur ball soared over the place where his head had just been.

Breezepelt let out a roar of fury. But before he could do anything, the bell rang.

"Good job!" Tornear praised them. "That's exactly the kind of competition I want to see! Very impressive for freshmen."

_For freshmen?_ Jayfeather wondered. _If this is impressive for us, then I don't want to see the senior warriors play!_

* * *

They didn't have recess at Warrior High, but they did have study hall. It was the only time besides lunch when they could really interact with other cats.

However, as Hollyleaf soon learned, not much studying went on during study hall. Longtail was supervising, but he wasn't doing very well. Every cat knew that the ThunderClan elder was blind, but they also knew he had excellent hearing. So they passed notes and played games quietly while Longtail thought they were doing homework.

"Hollyleaf!" a voice hissed. Hollyleaf grimaced as she turned to see Minnowtail looking at her.

"Come play cards with us!" The RiverClan warrior waved her over to a clump of her Clanmates.

Hollyleaf looked around, but she couldn't see either of her brothers or Willowshine. "Sure," she mewed at last, trying to sound excited. _How bad can it be?_ she wondered.

"What are we playing?" she asked, being sure to keep her voice low.

"F.D.," Pebbleclaw told her.

"F.D….?" Hollyleaf mewed quietly.

Another of Minnowtail's friends looked left and right to make sure no one was listening, and then explained, "Fox dung."

The rest of the RiverClan cats gasped. "I can't believe you said it!" one of them meowed breathlessly.

"What's so bad about saying fox dung?" Hollyleaf meowed, confused. The RiverClan warriors gasped again.

"Okay, okay," she whispered. "I won't say it."

"Hollyleaf," Minnowtail mewed exasperatedly, "you don't have to be so quiet. Longtail is engrossed in his book."

"What's he reading this week?" Pebbleclaw wondered. "Please tell me it's not _Juniper of Wrath_ again."

"Nah, he's moved on to _Roamingcrow and Jewelstep_," one of the others mewed.

"Are we going to play or not?" another demanded. "We're not going to have study hall again until two sunrises from now, you know."

"Keep your fur on," Minnowtail snapped. "I've dealt the cards already. Now, Hollyleaf," she went on, "this is how you play…"

* * *

**A/N: I'm not entirely sure why I put the study hall scene in. Dodgeball wasn't enough by itself, and I wanted to show some other aspects of Warrior High. Next chapter will probably bring some more regular classes, including Hollyleaf cheating in geometry. Please R and R!**


	4. Hollyleaf's Tom Friend

**Chapter Four**

Hollyleaf felt light as a feather. That is, she would if she weren't held down to earth with her heavy book bag.

She was one moon into her first year at Warrior High, and homework was worse than ever. She had an essay for history, an essay for literature, a project for science, three pages in her book for geometry, and several other assignments for art that she didn't even want to _think_ about.

Still, Hollyleaf was ecstatic, and not even homework could dampen her spirits. Her grades were higher than ever, and she thought that she just _might_ have a tom-friend. Hollyleaf smiled, thinking back to the day she came to that realization…

* * *

"Hollyleaf, what is the square root of one hundred twenty-one?" Mousefur asked her new favorite student. Hollyleaf, unlike the other mousebrains in her class, made a noticeable attention to pay attention to what the dusky brown elder was saying and turned in work at a higher quality than any of the other students; her geometry grade averaged at a C+.

Hollyleaf, as usual, looked nervous to answer. Mousefur knew it was all just an act. The intelligent black she-cat always had the right response. It just took a small intervention on Mousefur's part. Mousefur turned her back on the class, and began writing the homework assignment on the board. She always assumed that Hollyleaf would write the problem out on paper, and was embarrassed to have her favorite teacher see her do anything less than perfect. So Mousefur gave Hollyleaf her privacy.

What the geometry teacher was missing, though, was Mousewhisker quickly scribbling the answer onto a piece of paper and passing it to Hollyleaf. Hollyleaf then unfolded it, stared at the number for a few seconds, and then announced confidently, "Eleven."

Then Mousefur turned from the blackboard and say, "Yes, Hollyleaf, that's correct," with one of her special smiles while the rest of the class (besides Mousewhisker, of course) glared at Hollyleaf for getting off so easily. Hollyleaf then began copying the assignment into her book innocently, ignoring the haters.

On this particular afternoon, however, when Hollyleaf was copying down the assignment, Mousewhisker stared at her. He whipped his head around to look at the front of the room when she caught him peeking. Hollyleaf felt her fur grow hot with embarrassment. Why did he keep staring at her?

Hollyleaf soon found out. Mousewhisker _did_ like her! That afternoon after school was let out, he waited for her at the bus stop. Jayfeather and Lionblaze looked offended when she and Willowshine brushed past them to catch up with the gray warrior. While they sat together, Mousewhisker asked Hollyleaf, "Are you doing anything this weekend?"

Hollyleaf grew excited. Was it possible that he was asking her out?

"Not much," she meowed. "Homework, I guess."

"Oh, right," he mewed sadly. "Me, too."

Hollyleaf's heart sank. Maybe he wasn't asking her out after all.

"Here's an idea," Willowshine suggested obviously. "Why don't we all do our homework _together_? You can come over to my den Friday after school."

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Mousewhisker meowed, suddenly eager again.

"I'll have to ask Squirrelflight, but I'm pretty sure she'll be okay with it," Hollyleaf responded.

"Then it's settled," Willowshine declared. "I'll see you two after school tomorrow."

Mousewhisker got off at an earlier stop than they did, so Willowshine and Hollyleaf had some time to talk together without him hearing.

"Willowshine, you are a _genius_!" Hollyleaf cried.

"What?" asked Willowshine innocently.

"I thought for sure Mousewhisker was going to ask me out – I could tell because Honeyfern said that's how Berrynose was like when he was asking her – except when I reminded him about homework he started to back out, but you saved the date!"

"Oh," meowed Willowshine. "That."

"I still can't believe it! How did you do that?" Hollyleaf demanded.

"I didn't do much," her friend mewed modestly. "He just needed a push in the right direction. Toms are too shy to do much on their own when it comes to she-cats."

"How do you know so much about this?" asked Hollyleaf. "Medicine cats aren't supposed to have mates."

Willowshine shrugged. "We're not," she meowed. "But I noticed that Berrynose needed a push in the right direction too."

The two friends laughed.

As Hollyleaf lay in her nest that night, she couldn't get to sleep. Tomorrow she would get to see Mousewhisker again!

* * *

Lionblaze paced back and forth across his bedroom. "I can't _believe_ Hollyleaf got a date!" he meowed for the hundredth time.

For the hundredth time, Jayfeather nodded in agreement. "I always thought that she would wait longer to take a mate," he mewed. "She seemed too focused on the warrior code to worry about having kits."

Lionblaze pounded his pillow with his paw. "Firestar's decision to make us go to school has screwed everything up!"

"How so?" Jayfeather wanted to know. He didn't think Hollyleaf having a tom friend was _that_ bad.

"Cats from other Clans are being friendly!" Lionblaze exploded.

"Mousewhisker is from ThunderClan," Jayfeather pointed out quietly, but Lionblaze ignored him.

"It's not right!" he insisted. "This is changing us! Hollyleaf isn't the Hollyleaf we used to know!"

"What if we're being changed for the better?" Jayfeather meowed.

"_Change is never for the better!_" Lionblaze yowled.

"Okay, okay, relax," his brother replied exasperatedly. "Hollyleaf having a tom friend is probably not a good idea. Mousewhisker'll break her heart when he dumps her after he realizes how obsessed she is with the Warrior Code."

"Exactly!" Lionblaze meowed. "That's exactly the kind of thinking I like!" He stood up confidently.

"But what are we going to do about it?" Jayfeather wanted to know. "She's already made plans to meet him tomorrow.

"Right." Lionblaze sank back on his paws. "Well, I guess we can't change that, then."

"But what if we sorta… _monitored_ the date?" suggested Jayfeather.

"That could work." Lionblaze looked thoughtful. "We can see how Mousewhisker acts around her, and then plan our next move from then."

"Let's pull together a game plan," Jayfeather added. "Can you grab some notebook paper? We've got some serious ideas to write down."

"On it." Lionblaze bounded over to his desk and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil. Across the top of it he wrote, _How to Stop Hollyleaf from Getting a Tom Friend_.

"You, my friend," Lionblaze meowed, "are a genius."

* * *

**A/N: Oh my gosh!!! It has been so long since I've updated! I am so sorry! I just sort of hit a dead end… and then forgot about it. I'm sorry for the short chapter, but hopefully this will be the first of many updates to come.**


	5. Study Date

**Chapter Five**

"I can't believe we're doing this," Jayfeather grumbled.

"It was your idea in the first place," Lionblaze reminded him.

"Yeah, well now it seems really mousebrained. And I think I just crawled through a pile of squirrel dirt."

"Gross! But be quiet, we're almost there."

The two brothers slinked through the tall grass surrounding Willowshine and Mothwing's reed-covered den. It was time for Hollyleaf's homework date with her friends. Jayfeather prayed to StarClan that they wouldn't be too late; only Hollyleaf had received permission to go over straight after school, so the boys had to make a quick dash home before heading out.

"Where did you say they were again?" Lionblaze hissed under his breath.

"Willowshine was telling the others that they'd be in the back of the den," Jayfeather meowed. "I can only hope the wall will be thin enough there for us to hear them."

Lionblaze padded slowly in front of Jayfeather. Jayfeather let him take the lead; his brother was less likely to collide with the den wall than he was. Lionblaze guided him with his tail.

"Crawl one mouse-length ahead, then stop," Lionblaze whispered. "We're at the back of the den."

Jayfeather did as Lionblaze instructed, and from his position he could hear the mews of Hollyleaf and the others.

"…don't really understand this problem Mousefur assigned."

"That's Mousewhisker," Jayfeather hissed under his breath. "What's he playing at? He's the one who slipped Hollyleaf all the answers!"

"Here, let me help," Hollyleaf meowed. There was no sound for a few moments except for the scratch of pencils on paper.

"Thanks, Hollyleaf," Mousewhisker mewed at last. "That makes sense."

"You're so silly," Hollyleaf purred. "You gave me the answer to a similar problem last week!"

"Great StarClan, I can't believe she's _purring_," Jayfeather meowed disgustedly. Lionblaze made retching noises behind him.

"If I ever sound that mushy, slap me," growled Lionblaze.

"Shh!" Jayfeather cautioned. "Not so loud!"

There was movement inside the den.

"I'm going to make dirt," Willowshine announced. "No, no, that's okay – keep working."

Jayfeather froze with fear. In a moment, the RiverClan medicine cat was going to come around the side of the den and see them. "Lionblaze!"

His brother was on his paws in an instant. "Run!"

The two took off through the undergrowth.

"You'd better run!" Willowshine called after them.

The next day, Willowshine and Hollyleaf met at the bus stop before school.

Hollyleaf looked irritated. "Now, what was supposedly _so_ important that you couldn't tell me in front of Mousewhisker – but it could wait until today?"

"You are _never_ going to guess who I caught skulking in the bushes yesterday," Willowshine gushed.

The black she-cat's ears instantly perked up. "Who?" she demanded. "Were they spying on us?"

"I can't think of any other reason these two particular toms would be there," her friend meowed. "It was Lionblaze and Jayfeather."

"No way!" Hollyleaf exclaimed.

"Yes way," Willowshine mewed with a nod.

"That is so… so…" Hollyleaf struggled to find a word that described her brothers' behavior. English wasn't her best subject.

"Underhanded? Uncalled for?" Willowshine suggested.

"Yes! Both of those. It's none of their business what's going on between me and Mousewhisker!" she ranted.

"Oho!" Willowshine cried with glee. "I didn't say anything about Mousewhisker! _Is_ there anything going on between the two of you?"

"Mouse dung!" spat Hollyleaf. "That wasn't supposed to slip out."

"Hollyleaf and Mousewhisker, sitting in a tree," Willowshine sang merrily.

Hollyleaf bristled. "You shut up! What if someone hears?"

Willowshine rolled her eyes. "Hollyleaf, if the two of you hook up, _everyone_ is going to know."

"Great," Hollyleaf groaned.

"So you _are_ planning to hook up with him!"

"No! That's not what I meant at all!"

"Kay – eye – ess – ess – eye – en – gee!"

"Stop it!"

"Welcome, class," Sandstorm announced, shuffling the papers on her desk. "Instead of homeroom, today we will be having an assembly."

Hollyleaf gulped. Last time there had been an assembly Onestar had ridiculed everyone for their slipping grades. Even Willowshine had felt awful, and she was the best in the year.

"Please line up by the door," their teacher meowed.

"What does Onestar want to talk to us about?" a RiverClan cat called.

Sandstorm turned in her direction. "He will explain it to you shortly," she mewed, and left it at that.

The class filed into the auditorium. It was much larger than the one at Apprentice Academy, for it sometimes had to hold a much larger number of students. Onestar stood at the front of the room behind a podium. He didn't look too upset, which Hollyleaf took to be a good sign.

"We are now a few moons into the school year, and well into Leafbare," the principal began. "And the time has come for your exams to begin."

It seemed that the older students, the sophomores, juniors, and seniors, had heard this lecture before. Hollyleaf was intrigued, though. What were the exams? Would they be exciting?

"You will be tested in each of your subjects, save P.E. The fitness tests will be later in the school year," Onestar continued.

Hollyleaf was confused. What was this about tests? Weren't exams supposed to be _fun_?

"The results will not only reflect on each student individually, but on the school itself. I trust you will all study hard."

After assembly, Sandstorm passed out schedules to the cats in Hollyleaf's homeroom. Hollyleaf let out a yelp of dismay.

"What is it?" Willowshine whispered.

"My first exam is in two days!" Hollyleaf hissed back.

"Great StarClan, that stinks!" her friend replied.

Hollyleaf shoved the schedule in her bag. "I know. When's yours?"

Willowshine glanced at her sheet of paper and let out a horrified shriek.

"Willowshine!" Sandstorm chastised. "This is a classroom, not a playground. Please keep your voice to an appropriate level."

"Sorry," Willowshine murmured. To Hollyleaf, she mewed, "Tomorrow!"

"We need to study," Hollyleaf meowed grimly. "Big time."

**A/N: Another embarrassingly short chapter, but at least I'm writing again! The next chapter will include Lionblaze's chemistry class and Hollyleaf's frantic hours in the library, studying.**


	6. Chemistry

**Chapter Six**

Hollyleaf bounded down the stairs, fully dressed and with a heavy bookbag slung over her shoulder. She grabbed a mouse from the kitchen counter and sprinted for the door. "Gotta-go-Mom-see-you-tonight-bye!" she meowed in one breath.

"Hold on a sec, Hollyleaf!" Squirrelflight called from the kitchen. "Why are you up and dressed already? Your father just left for work! And the bus doesn't come for another hour, you know," she mewed.

The black she-cat skidded to a halt. "Exams are coming up," she explained. "I said I'd meet Willowshine in the library before school starts."

"Exams?" Squirrelflight asked. "You never had those at Apprentice Academy."

"I know," Hollyleaf mewed. "They're big tests they give the warriors."

"I see," she murmured. "You know, I remember the good old days, when we'd have _assessments_, not _tests_…"

"Mom!" Hollyleaf cried exasperatedly. "You sound like an elder."

Squirrelflight looked amused. "What, am I not allowed to reminisce? Go on, get to school. Willowshine will be waiting."

Without another word, Hollyleaf dashed out the door. She gulped down her mouse and left the remains in a trash bin outside the school. Quickly, she showed her student I.D. to the secretary and sped along to the library.

Willowshine was waiting for her. She had several books spread out on the vast table in front of her. "I figured we'd start with Biology, because that exam's first," she explained.

"Sounds good," Hollyleaf meowed, dumping her bag on the chair next to her. "Do you know what'll be on the test?"

Her friend shrugged. "A sophomore said they had to dissect voles when he took the test, but we did that last year."

Hollyleaf furrowed her brow in concentration. "Maybe we'll have to dissect something more complicated, then – like frogs!"

Willowshine dragged a book closer to her. "We can research the dissecting of all the animals the teachers might be able to catch. That should prepare us."

"Also sounds good," Hollyleaf agreed. She grabbed a book titled _Dissect a Squirrel! _while Willowshine pored over a copy of _Frog Guts and You_.

After a few moments of silence, Willowshine mewed, "This might help. It says for the cleanest cut, use the sharp edge of your scalpel."

Hollyleaf nodded. "This one says that you should work through the body one layer at a time, labeling the outer parts before delving deeper into the animal."

"That's fascinating in a really, really gross way," the RiverClan she-cat meowed with a chuckle.

They continued reading, and for a few minutes there was no sounds except for that of turning pages and of Hollyleaf's pencil scratching away in her notebook as she took studious notes. Then Ferncloud, the librarian, came over and told them that it would be a good idea to pack up their things, because the bell was going to ring soon.

Hollyleaf decided not to check out any of the books, because her book bag was heavy enough without putting anything else in it. Willowshine seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because she picked all the books off the table and put them in a bin to be reshelved.

They walked to homeroom together. "Want to go back after school?" Hollyleaf asked Willowshine. She didn't think she'd really absorbed enough information.

"All right, but I'll already be done with my Biology final by then," she mewed with a sigh.

"That's right!" Hollyleaf exclaimed. "I'd totally forgotten. Good luck!'

"Thanks," her friend meowed honestly. "I think I'll need it."

When they were almost to the classroom, Willowshine whispered, "I had an idea to get back at your brothers."

"Get back at them? Why?"

"Don't you remember how they were spying on us when you and Mousewhisker were over at my den?"

"Oh, right."

"I thought we could play a trick on them of our own…"

"What is it?"

"Listen closely…"

Jayfeather and Lionblaze padded into the cafeteria, their bags slung over their shoulders. Lionblaze grabs a tray from the lunch line and passes another one to Jayfeather.

"Looks like we're having fried starling today," he whispered. "Want any berries with that?"

Jayfeather shrugged. "You know Squirrelflight would kill us if we didn't get _something_ nutritious in our meal, and you know it's not going to be milk."

"Heck yes," Lionblaze agreed. "This new 'soda' is way better."

Lionblaze loaded up the trays for both of them. The cafeteria helpers didn't protest that the golden warrior took enough for two; by now they knew that he helped his blind brother out whenever he could.

They sat down at their usual table with Willowshine and Hollyleaf.  
"So I hear you already had your first exam," Lionblaze meowed to Willowshine.

She nodded. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We just had to dissect squirrels."

"Good thing I read that book this morning!" Hollyleaf mewed.

"It was similar to dissecting a mouse," she went on. "Not very difficult. Poppyfrost had a lot of trouble with it, though."

"That must stink," Jayfeather meowed. "Your first exam and you don't do very well? Not much of a morale booster." The others nodded in agreement.

"So what do you guys think of the new decorations?" mewed Hollyleaf as an obvious change of subject.

"What new decorations?" Lionblaze asked, swiveling around in his seat. Jayfeather couldn't see anything, of course.

Quick as a flash, Willowshine opened a couple packets of ground pepper and dumped them in Jayfeather and Lionblaze's berries. By the time Lionblaze turned around, she was sitting normally in her seat as if nothing had happened.

"There aren't any new decorations," meowed Lionblaze, confused. "Those are the same banners they put up last week to remind us about the book drive."

"Oh, my bad." Hollyleaf shrugged. "I must not be very observant."

Lionblaze eyed her suspiciously, but didn't say anything else on the subject. Instead, he dug into his berries, scooping huge spoonful into his mouth. He spat it out almost instantaneously. "That's disgusting!"

"Shh!" Willowshine chastised. "The cafeteria ladies might hear you."

"Someone put pepper on my berries!" Lionblaze hissed furiously.

"Mine taste fine," mewed Hollyleaf innocently.

"Same here," Willowshine added. "Maybe you picked up a pepper packet instead of a sugar packet?"

"I _never_ put sugar on my berries!" Lionblaze protested.

Jayfeather took a bite of _his_ berries and choked, spitting them back out. "Lionblaze, what did you put on my lunch?"

Lionblaze looked even angrier than before. "I didn't put _anything_ on your stupid berries!"

"Well, someone did!" Jayfeather grumbled. "They're never like this."

Lionblaze's face suddenly lit up with understanding. "It was you!" he meowed, pointing an accusing paw at Hollyleaf.

"Me?" Hollyleaf asked, sounding perfectly confused.

"That's why you said that stuff about the decorations!" Lionblaze exclaimed. "It was just an act!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hollyleaf mewed at the same time Willowshine declared, "She couldn't have done it. I was watching her the whole time!"

"Well, it was _one_ of you," the golden tom meowed murderously. "And you're _both_ gonna pay for it."

After lunch, Lionblaze headed off to his chemistry class while Jayfeather went to band. This period always made Lionblaze nervous, because it was the one period when they didn't take the same classes.

"Welcome," Dustpelt meowed as the class took their seats. Lionblaze especially liked this class because they didn't sit at desks – they sat in partners at white lab tables. The one downside? Lionblaze was partnered with _Breezepelt_.

"Up until today, I have only taught you the theory of chemistry," Dustpelt continued. "This is because we didn't want to take any risks, and wanted you to know as much about the subject as possible before you did anything practical. But since the exam will include a practical demonstration, I have to teach you what may come up on the test."

The class was instantly more alert. This was going to be the most interesting chemistry class yet.

Dustpelt went on to explain how the lab worked, what ingredients they would need, and so on. He finished with, "This is a rather simple lab, but as you have never attempted this before, I do not expect anyone's project to be perfect."

There was a scraping of chairs as everyone got up to go to the store cupboard. Lionblaze remained seated, and began organizing the vials he and Breezepelt would need.

The WindClan tom dumped several bottles of chemicals on the able. "You're so lazy," he hissed. "Why didn't you get up to help me carry some of this stuff?"

"It's a nightmare to get over there," Lionblaze retorted. "It's a pain in the tail to even get _close_ to the cabinet."

"Here," Breezepelt meowed briskly. "Measure out a tablespoon of this one."

"Are you sure it says tablespoon?" Lionblaze asked.

"Of course I'm sure!" Breezepelt snapped. "Just pour it in the big jar."

"The one over the burner?" Lionblaze was beginning to enjoy playing stupid.

"What other big jar is there?" Breezepelt rolled his eyes. "Just do it!"

Lionblaze poured the liquid in and it immediately started sizzling.

Dustpelt padded around the room, making comments about the projects. When he passed Lionblaze and Breezepelt's table, he gave them a nod.

"I'm going to measure this powder," meowed Breezepelt. "You pour in a _teaspoon_ of that liquid. Do you hear me? _Teaspoon._ Not tablespoon. Teaspoon."

Now it was Lionblaze's turn to roll his eyes. "I heard you the first time, stupid." He took the cap off the bottle, held the teaspoon over the jar, and poured the second liquid in.

"And _you're_ the stupid one," Breezepelt muttered. "_Which big jar, Breezepelt?_" he mimicked.

"Shut up!" Lionblaze jerked away from the jar and glared at Breezepelt. Too late, he realized he had dropped the measuring spoon into the jar and the liquid was flowing freely from the bottle.

"Fox dung!" Breezepelt spat. "_Now_ look what you've done!"

"What _I've_ done?" Lionblaze hissed. "You provoked me!"

Quickly, the golden tom screwed the cap back on the bottle. He was about the reach into the jar to pull out the spoon when he realized it was _melting_.

"StarClan help us," Lionblaze murmured.

The two watched until the spoon had melted completely. Then the liquid started bubbling. The bubbles rose like fizz from a bottle of soda until it was practically foaming over.

And then it _exploded._

Literally, exploded. At first there was a slight hiss, like a glass jar melting, and then with a bang louder than anything Lionblaze had heard before, the glass shattered and their mixture sprayed everywhere.

Cats shrieked as boiling liquid landed on them and singed off their fur. The air was suddenly filled with the sound of yowling warriors.

Dustpelt had to shout to make himself heard. "Enough! _Enough! _ENOUGH!"

Finally, the class went silent.

"Don't panic. Those of you who got hit, go see Mothwing for something to sooth you. Now, who did this?" He glared around the room, looking for the most guilty stare.

His gaze fell on Breezepelt and Lionblaze, whose fur had been scorched off and several places, and were looking sincerely apologetic.

"Detention," Dustpelt hissed. "For the rest of the month."


End file.
